Broken Pieces
by Fbiloveemandhotch
Summary: Maybe there is no fairy tale or happy ending. Maybe they were condemned to never be happy again. How can you have a happy ending when the monsters of your past come back to haunt you? How can you put together the broken pieces ?
1. Chapter 1

Broken Pieces

Chapter 1: Life isn't a Fairy Tale

 _ **I find it ironic that happy endings now are called fairytale endings because there's nothing happy about most fairytale endings. - Joe Wright**_

Emily Prentiss wasn't an open person; at least, she never shared her feelings with anyone. As the daughter of an ambassador, the first thing she learned was to compartmentalize: _"Do not show your feelings, don't let people see, don't let anyone in"_ were the words that stuck in her mind ever since she could remember. No, she wasn't allowed to feel, she wasn't allowed to be _that_ Emily. Then again, she didn't remember feeling anything…ever. At least, not the way most people would experience feeling. Emily never got to know what it was like to have a loving mother; _love_ was a sign of weakness. A simple "I love you" was something so simple and yet so foreign to her. She probably had more than anyone she had ever met…luxury, money, private schools…she had it all; but, at the end of the night, she felt so miserable. It wasn't that she couldn't experience feelings; it was that she wasn't allowed to. " _Prentisses don't cry." W_ hat five-year-old could understand that concept? Yet, she learned to swallow her own tears until one day she stopped shedding them completely.

Being raised by a different babysitter every certain amount of time only showed her that people didn't want to stay in her life. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but with her mother's career, it was just like that. A different country, a different life style, a different school. Emily couldn't even count the many places she had lived in throughout her life. The hundreds of people that had served at their house, servants, chauffeur's, nannies…they were the closest thing she had to a family, and yet, she never even got to know who they were. She learned to trust no one, then again, how could she ever trust someone when her own mother was willing to sell her entire family for a political career. Her father wasn't simply a part of this; he was too good to be her father.

 _Maybe_ there was something wrong with her, and not the others. A young girl that grew up with so many insecurities, so much so that she could hardly accept herself. The dark gothic look and black makeup was a shield for her. A shield she could use to protect herself form what was really inside. The _one_ thing she learned from her mother was that " _We all wear different masks, Emily, and the time comes where we cannot remove them."_ So, she did, she wore her own mask to cover her demons, the things she was once told she wasn't allowed to experience. She never thought she would love anyone; more like she condemned herself not love anyone; not to let anyone close enough to even touch her, or inflict any kind of feelings or emotions. Negative or positive, it didn't really matter for her, they had the same meaning to her. Then, she looked into her own world and became a hard, cold woman, at least, her mother's wealth got her where she was today.

After so many decades, Emily couldn't believe where she was in her life. As she stood on the terrace of the apartment where they lived, she tried to consider her life. At what point did she lose her mask and let her guard down…she wasn't sure. One day, it just happened…she lost her battle and someone stole her heart. The only person that had ever made her feel worthy of respect and love and trust other than _Matthew_. Maybe a big part of her was still scared of her own insecurities, maybe it was that she was afraid of herself. But, right now, tears pooled in her eyes as she looked out from the terrace knowing the sun wasn't even up yet. But, being out there in the cold felt so right, it was as if she was hiding from herself. Her eyes landed on the sparkling ring on her left hand. She closed her eyes as the tears rolled down her cheeks. How could she love someone so much and yet feel this much pain. Maybe it was that she was damaged goods, maybe it was that she was just condemned to never be happy. With her hand holding the cold railing, she wished sometimes that she could just disappear and not feel any more pain. Emily didn't deserve him…she knew that…she wasn't good enough for him and she would never be. Especially not under the current circumstances, maybe she was overreacting and overthinking. Maybe she wasn't and the ghosts of her past were ready to come back and haunt her. _Either way, he didn't deserve this; there was a fairy tale, but perhaps there was no happy ending..._

"What are you doing out here in the cold? It's freezing, sweetheart." She felt his warm hand snake around her midsection, the masculine voice tickling her neck. Emily leaned into his touch, closing her eyes and blinking the tears away.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." Emily's voice was low and soft. It was more like a plea, one she couldn't even express.

"Em, baby, what's the matter?" He held her closer to him, his musky fresh scent feeling her nostrils.

"Nothing." She said as she turned in his arms.

"You can't lie to me." His dark chocolate eyes focused on her. His expression stern, the worry of his eyes was there. Yet his voice was loving and soft.

"I'm fine." She repeated, trying to convince herself more so than him.

"Emily?"

Emily captured his lips in a soft kiss; she needed to show him that she loved him even if she didn't deserve him.

"I love you." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I love you, too, sweetheart." He replied smiling softly.

"I'm going to shower and get ready." She said, pressing one more kiss on his lips.

"Baby?" He stopped her from moving.

"I'm fine, Aaron, really. I woke up early, and I didn't want to wake you. I always like the cold mornings like this. It's not very often we get to enjoy them."

"I love you," He said again, pulling her to him and holding her close. He wanted to make sure she was fine. She had been on edge lately, and he had noticed it; but, if she wasn't ready to talk, he wasn't going to press.

"I love you more." was her response. "Now, be a good boy and let me go shower."

"Or else, what?" He teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"God, you're insatiable!" Emily rolled her eyes, laughing and brushing the negative feelings away.

"Maybe." He tentatively kissed her again.

"I really have to shower, honey." She broke their kiss. He let her go for now and smiled as he watched her walk back inside the condo.

He wanted to go after her, but he stood there watching her walk away. Maybe it wasn't anything, and he was just being paranoid. Maybe they were just tired and stressed out. The fact that they had hardly gotten a day off in the past month wasn't really helping either one of them. Maybe for once, he just needed to chill and let things be. Being a profiler was a difficult job; he noticed things more than others could. Maybe it was what made him so good at his job. The BAU had the best profilers he had ever worked with, but he had a special gift. Aaron noticed things that others were oblivious to. Such as the fact that for the past week Emily had gotten an extra cup of coffee, rather than her usual 5-6 cups dose. Except on Tuesday when they were at that custodial interview, and they had been inside the prison for most of the day. Only giving her a chance to go through her first morning round. By the time they made it back home, Emily had switched to hot tea yet she got no sleep that night.

Maybe he was too worried because he had never been this happy in his entire life. After so many broken years in his life, Aaron found his fairy tale. After his marriage with Haley ended, he never thought he would love again. He was too damaged and too broken; nobody would want to pick up the broken pieces. He was just this cold, stoic man that had no feelings, who was emotionless and cold-hearted. That was true for so many years, then Emily changed it all. It was an irony anyway; the woman he hated the first time he met her was the reason for his happiness today. The day he had placed that ring on her finger and she said that one word…that made him whole again.

Maybe it was just his fear of losing her and his fairy tale ending. He just needed to know she was really fine, even though she had said she was. They were at a point in their relationship where they had shared even the most intimate details of their lives. The most embarrassing secrets…they knew each other inside out. Everything was fine he thought, he knew everything about her and she knew everything about him. The rest was just taking one day at a time. Maybe she was just having a couple of bad days, or one of those terrible migraines she usually got. Emily being " _Emily_ " would never admit being sick. Maybe they just needed a break and take a few days off. Perhaps, he could take her somewhere for the weekend and get her mind away from whatever it had been on.

"Everything is fine." He repeated softly.

 _ **I'm a hopeless romantic, and I believe that you can find love in many different places and be very conflicted. I've discovered as I've grown up that life is far more complicated than you think it is when you're a kid. It isn't just a straightforward fairytale. -Rachel McAdams**_


	2. Chapter 2

Broken Pieces

Chapter 2: Demons of the Past

 _ **I, too, have my own demons, and I have struggled. I've made my own mistakes, and I'm not proud of them. - Michael Bergin**_

The first part of the morning had been quite hectic for the BAU team; they had been chasing some random shooters in D.C. Nothing too concrete, they all seemed to have different MO's. The first shooting had occurred outside a bank…a couple had been shot in a cold-blooded manner when they were coming out of the bank. They had not been robbed, or anything. The unsub ran away before anyone could get a look at him or her. Thirty miles from there, another shooting took place in one of the suburbs around D.C. A single man was killed, an African-American. The shootings didn't seem to be connected, but local authorities wanted the opinion of the BAU. At the end of the day, Hotch had ruled out any connections between the cases. The team was back in the bullpen now working on paper work.

Or, at least, they were supposed to be doing that. Emily had been staring at her computer screen for an hour. She hadn't even started her report yet, which was unusual, she was usually the first one to turn her reports in. But today, her mind seemed to be _somewhere_ else. She had been trying to be herself for the past two weeks, but for some reason, she couldn't stop the nagging feeling. Maybe it was nothing, and she was making it a big deal, and along the way, she was making Aaron concerned about her. Emily had noticed how overprotective he had been for the past few days. He had tried to talk to her that morning before they headed to work but, Emily pushed her negative feelings away and reassured him there was nothing going on. It had been two weeks already and _nothing_ else had happened. But then again, she wasn't even sure if there was _something_ that should be happening at all. She was just making assumptions, but her gut was telling her something else.

Emily slowly, without anyone noticing, opened her desk drawer and pulled out the envelope again. She had been staring at it for the past two weeks trying to make sense of it. It didn't have a return address and it didn't have a sender. She had no idea who had sent her the envelope. The only thing inside the envelope was a single postcard with no signature or message on it. It was a picture of the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Emily's favorite place in the world, the place she had always dreamed about. It was the most beautiful place she had known while moving around the world during her mother's various postings. Emily always swore that whenever she was old enough, she would move there. No place in the world had made her feel so calm, so safe; it was basically a dream come true. She looked at the postcard again and started trembling, and goosebumps popped up all over her body. There were only two people in this entire world she had shared that part of her life with, no one else. One of them was Aaron, and he wouldn't have sent her that, she was sure of that. The other person was supposed to be locked inside a maximum-security prison in La Sante France. One of the highest security prisons in the world; there was no way he could have sent her this…could he?

She closed her eyes for a moment as the flashbacks came to her mind:

 _It was late at night and she lay in his arms, her naked body resting against his chest. They had gone to a famous and elegant restaurant in Tuscany and had drunk some expensive wine, and as usual, he had spent a fortune on her. They were now back at his elegant mansion, and they were resting beneath his sheets. He pulled her close to him nuzzling her hair and sighing against her neck._

" _I love you, Lauren." He said, in his sexy, smooth voice._

 _She smiled and looked up at him, turning to her side and resting on her elbow._

" _Do you really?" She questioned playfully._

" _Of course I do; I love you more than I ever loved anyone in this world." He said, kissing her. Her brown eyes examined his green eyes, and she smiled sexily._

" _Let's move somewhere else?" He said suddenly._

" _Move? Are you crazy! We can't just move suddenly without planning." She said, looking at him with questioning eyes._

" _Of course we can, Lauren, I have money and power. I can take you anywhere you want to go."_

" _Pier..." She responded, rolling her eyes._

" _What? I love you, Lauren, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."_

 _She bit her lip looking at him; a mixture of disgust and nostalgia took over her body. She wasn't sure how much longer she could do this; she was losing confidence, and she didn't want to play this anymore._

" _What is your favorite place in this world? Just name it, no matter where it is." Piero questioned, touching her cheeks._

 _She laughed and turned on her stomach looking at him, exhaling and closing her eyes for a second thinking of his question._

" _Have you ever been to the Isle of Skye in Scotland?" She asked him, curiously._

" _No, I haven't."_

" _I was there once, visiting with my parents. They took my little sister and brother there; it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen." She responded, looking at him with a dreamy smile._

" _Let's move there." He said, without hesitation. She laughed, looking at him in shock._

" _You are crazy!"_

" _About you, I am. Move there with me, Lauren, let's go there and start a family."_

" _Piero." She said, looking at him nervously._

 _The cellphone on the nightstand started ringing, and they were interrupted. Piero reached to grab the phone sitting up in bed._

" _Cosa sta succedendo." He told the other person on the phone._

 _She didn't know who he was talking to, but she understood the language._

" _Sei sicuro." His facial expression was now neutral. She tried to see if she could hear what the person on the other end of the phone was saying._

" _Va bene andare un testa e fare la mossa. Sarò giù in po." He said, getting out of the bed and hanging up the phone._

" _Is everything okay?" she asked._

" _Yes, love, everything is fine. I just need to go downstairs for a minute. It was a business call." He said, putting his pants and dark shirt back on._

 _He leaned down to press a kiss on her lips and walked out of the room, leaving her alone._

 _She quickly sat up and wrapped herself in a silk robe; then she reached for the drawer and grabbed her cigarettes. She walked out on the balcony of the room and lit the cigarette, taking a deep drag and feeling the smoke burn her lungs._

 _She wasn't sure how much longer she could do this; she knew the mission was about to be completed. But, the closer it got, the more nervous she was; she closed her eyes exhaling the smoke. A big part of her felt disgusted for the role she had been playing for the past two years. Another part of her was angry at herself for getting so emotionally involved with him. She was supposed to be doing a job, and yet, a big part of her had allowed her feelings to get involved. It wasn't that she was in love with him, but she cared for him in a way she shouldn't. She had been intimately involved with him, and she was human…she had allowed herself to feel things for him she wasn't supposed to. She just prayed that this was over soon; she just didn't know how much longer she could play this role._

" _Lauren?" Piero called her from the glass door._

 _She turned to face him as she finished smoking the cigarette._

" _Is everything okay?" She asked, smiling at him._

" _Some issues at work, but everything is fine, love." He said, as he walked closer to her wrapping her in a hug._

" _Piero, are you sure everything is okay?" she asked, trying to read his mind._

" _Now that you're in my arms, everything is perfect." He said, pulling her in for a kiss._

 _She had been playing undercover for almost two years now; it was a very long time, but it had to be done that way to make sure everything worked the way it was supposed to work. Piero Bianchi was one of the most wanted mobsters in the Italian mafia. He was wanted in three other countries, and he had been involved in crimes and racketeering for several decades. The CIA had finally found a way to send Emily to infiltrate his life as an undercover agent with an alias of Lauren Reynolds. Her mission was coming to an end, and she was turning him in. She just needed to wait a few more days, and then she could go back to her real life…she just wanted to be sure she could recover from this._

Emily opened her eyes and looked at the postcard again. She thought there was no way Piero Bianchi had sent her that. He was supposed to be in a high-security prison, and Lauren Reynolds was supposed to be dead. At least, that was what Clyde had made sure of, as far as Piero Bianchi and anyone else involved in that mission was concerned. Lauren Reynolds was dead, she needed to repeat that to herself and convince herself that everything was fine. He couldn't be out of prison, not now, when everything was perfect in her life. This had to be a mistake and maybe she was overreacting. She had been stressing out over the postcard for the past two weeks, and something inside her was telling her that she needed to be vigilant, and that her worst nightmare was about to become true. Emily looked toward her boss's office and watched him through his window working on files. Tears pooled in her eyes once again. He could never find out about her mission and Piero Bianchi, Aaron, of all people, couldn't know. Aaron would hate her for the rest of his life if he ever found out about her mission with the CIA, and what she had done to put Piero behind bars. He just couldn't know.

 _ **If you don't deal with your demons, they will deal with you, and it's gonna hurt.**_

 _ **Nikki Sixx**_


	3. Chapter 3

Broken Pieces

Chapter 3: Choices and consequences

 ** _In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences. Robert Green Ingersoll_**

Emily walked into the kitchen of their apartment, after getting ready for work. It was a little bit earlier than usual, but then again she had been waking up rather early lately. Actually, she had barely been able to sleep lately; she could hardly close her eyes with the image of Piero coming to her head. She wasn't even sure why she was acting like this; something didn't let her stay at peace. For seven years she had tried to hide this part of _her past,_ a part she could never be proud of. She will always feel disgusted when she remembered what she had done to put Piero behind bars, even thought a big part of her mind was telling her that she was doing her job. _That was right she was doing her job, and yet she had slept with a criminal and a drug dealer for a profile._ When she started her career she had never imagined she would be in this situation. Yet she accepted the assignment gladly. It wasn't that she was proud of what she had done. It was more that she was willing to do anything it took to put criminals behind bars, even if she had to screw someone to make a case. Yes that sounded so wrong but CIA and Interpol had been after Piero Bianchi for almost a decade. It was the only way to get him, it work perfectly and Emily was awarded for her excellent job. Yet she feel disgusted and dirty, she hated what she had to do. It wasn't long after that when she realized she couldn't look at herself in the mirror any longer. A year later she end up moving to Virginia and she got a very job at the BAU in the FBI. She tried to bury her past and move on with her life, she didn't want her past to chase her forever. Then she felt in love with most amazing man she could have ever imagine. Now she was here engaged to Aaron and living the dream she always wanted. She had waited for this all her life, and now that it was here it was about to be taken away from her. _Emily knew for sure, that Piero Bianchi was out of prison by now; at least that was what Sean McAllister had told her when they talk a few nights ago. He had escape prison and he vanished, no body knew where he was but one thing was for sure. Everyone that was involved in that "mission" was in danger, and his target number one was Emily herself._

"Good morning beautiful" a voice behind her made her jump.

"Shit! You startled me Aaron" she responded almost spilling the cup of coffee that she was holding on her hand.

"I am sorry sweetheart. I didn't mean to scare you. You had been too tensed lately " Aaron who was now fully dressed and ready too work responded. Walking closer to her and putting his strong arms around her waist. Emily immediately tensed up.

"What is wrong baby?" He asked brushing his finger on her cheek gently and looking at her with concern in his chocolate eyes.

"No- nothing you just scared me" Emily said moving out of his embrace

"Emily..." Aaron started

"Do you want me to make you breakfast?" She asked avoiding his gaze and walking towards the fridge

"No" Aaron said in a serious tone "Emily are you going to tell me what is going on with you? Or are we going to continue playing this game?" he said sternly

"I don't know what are you talking about. Nothing is wrong with me" She responded looking at him, she knew he was getting upset about this, but she couldn't tell him anything she couldn't get him involved in this.

"Right!" Aaron said crossing his arms over his chest "You barely sleep lately, you are tensed all the time, and you are biting your fingernails again" He said looking at her with the same look he gave during his interrogations.

Emily just look away for a minute, she hated when he gave her that look, when he profiled her like this.

"Don't you trust me Emily?" he added in a stern tone

"Of course I do" Emily responded fighting the tears

"Then tell me what is going on with you?"

"Nothing is wrong I already told you that, I am fine" Emily replied shaking her head. No matter what happened she just couldn't tell him what was going on.

"I thought we didn't lie to each other, but I guess I was wrong" his words stung on her chest like a stab.

"Aaron" Emily said in a soft tone reaching for his arm trying to stop him.

"I will see you at work" He went to the couch and grabbed his briefcase.

"Honey please" she begged but he just left the apartment. Emily stood there while tears rolled down her eyes.

Emily made her way to Quantico and tried to act normal for most of the day despite what was going on. She had already contacted Clyde and Tsia about what was going on, they weren't sure if Piero was in D.C but Emily had received several blocked phone calls to her cellphone for the past few days. She wasn't sure whom else could it be other than Piero. Around her lunch time she went to the get some coffee to get her head away from the office. Her cellphone started ringing on her way to the coffee shop.

"Prentiss"

"Hello Darling" Clyde greeted with his English accent however Emily could notice the tension on his tone.

"Clyde what is going on?" She asked feeling the knot on her stomach

"Em, Jeremy was murdered last night" Clyde informed while looking out the window of his office.

"Was it him?" Emily asked referring to Piero, feeling her chest tighten

"There is a possibility, we don't know..."

"How..." Emily couldn't help but to ask

"His car exploded when he was inside, CIA confirmed there was a bomb on the gas tank"

"Oh my god...ho- how is Tsia?" Her voice was trembling now

"She is on her way to America as we speak"

"Is him" Emily said as a matter of fact

"We don't know Emily"

"Goddammit Clyde is him and you know it, the postcard I received and all the phone calls, and the this with Jeremy is Piero, who else could it be" her eyes were burning

"Darling just calm down, my contact at DCRI is already trying to track him down and his aliases, I need you to trust me please"

"I don't trust anyone anymore"

"You have to trust me Emily, you know that unless you want to get your fiancée involved?" Clyde inquired

"Absolutely not, this isn't his fight Clyde and he can't never know..."

"Emily I will find him...trust me"

Emily stood quite feeling tears roll down her eyes; she knew they were running out of time.

"You hear me Em?" Clyde asked again

"Yeah I hear you. I have to go"

"Stay safe Em, I am coming to D.C"

" Okay just get here a soonest you can."

She disconnected the call and threw her cellphone over the dashboard angrily; she needed to find a way to fix this mess. But the truth was, there _might not_ be a way, her life was in danger and the clock was ticking. She knew Piero better than anyone, and she knew what he was capable off. She feared for her life, but also for her friends life and for what Aaron would say when he found out what she had done. He will hate her for the rest of her life and that terrified her more than Piero killing her. She tried to relax and she made her way back to the office trying to appear calm.

Aaron and her hadn't really said a word to each other after he left the apartment that morning. She knew he was angry with her, she also knew she hadn't been herself lately, and he was aware of that. _Hell_ , even Morgan had started to notice how tensed she was and he had tried to ask her but it only make Emily more upset, so he backed off. She was on the edge and she knew it but as much as she wanted to confide in her team, and her fiancé, _the love of her life_. She simply couldn't, not without putting them at risk, and she could never forgive herself if something happened to anyone on the team _especially_ not to Aaron.

She left the office around six but she didn't go home right away, she wanted to clear her head for a while and drive around the city. She knew that she needed to talk to Aaron when she arrived home and convince him somehow that everything was fine, at least for now. She was trying to buy sometime until they got Piero, and until then she was going to do whatever it took to keep Aaron out of this. After she spent like two hours crying on her car she decided to head it back home, before Aaron got more suspicious. She was on her way to her apartment when her phone started ringing again. It was that weird private number again, she had been ignoring those calls for a week now, but something inside her, told her she should answer.

"Hello" She answered trying to sound confident

"Hello Lauren" the cold voice of Piero came to the phone. Emily froze, her mind stop working for a minute, as she glanced around the cars driving near her to see if she could spot anyone following her or anyone that resembled Piero.

"Or should I said hello Emily Prentiss?" His cold voice made her skin curl

"I knew you would call" Emily said keeping her eyes on the road, but being vigilant of her surroundings

"Am I that predictable?" He asked laughing on the phone

"What do you want Piero?" She spat in the same cold tone

" _You_ love of course" his voice turned stern. Emily swallowed hard

"But don't worry is not gonna happen today, not yet anyway..." he laughed on the phone enjoying the power he had over her.

"Do you think is going to be that easy? Don't you think I have people on my side?" Emily said trough clenched teeth

"Oh really? Who do you have? Because I am sure you are too scared to tell Aaron the truth about the kind of whore you are. Does he and the lovely Jack know about your dirty goings in Paris? Piero asked making her eyes and tears spill against her will.

"Come near him or Jack and I will end you?" Emily said anger running trough her veins

"Oh don't worry love my war isn't with them is with you..." Piero said with a smirk

"I was doing my job Piero" Emily said feeling such anger bubble up inside her

"Oh no Lauren, you did more than that, you destroyed mi life and now I am going to destroy yours" Piero said evilly laughing in the phone

"Piero..."

"See you soon love" the line got disconnected and a sob escaped Emily's mouth. This was real and he was back her hours were counted.

She drove home with many thoughts on her head. Her worse nightmare was back and now her life depended on him. It was only a matter of time before he killed her and everyone else that had been involved in that mission, he had already killed Jeremy, and now he was coming after the rest of them. But she knew that at least for tonight she needed to feel loved and safe in Aaron's arms at least for once last time. She wasn't surprised to see that he was home already when she arrived. She walked into the room and she heard the shower running so she slowly changed into her black nightgown and she sat at the edge of the bed, holding a picture frame on her hands. It was a picture of her, Jack and Aaron on Christmas, Jack was opening presents and Emily and Aaron were by the Christmas tree kissing. Dave had taken the picture when they were completely oblivious. But it was a perfect picture; it was one of her favorite family pictures. She ran her thumb over their happy faces as a tears rolled down her eyes. She was so scared and she knew soon all of her happiness will be taken away, she didn't even hear Aaron coming out of the shower. He stood there watching her from the bathroom doorway wearing a single towel around his waist, his hair still wet.

He came over and knelt on the carpet in front of her realizing that she was crying

"Do I need to be worried? Is our relationship in trouble? He asked sadly looking at her

"No" Emily said placing the picture down on the bed and reaching down for him "I am sorry I been acting weird, I just haven't been feeling well" She said looing at him with teary eyes

"And you are you crying because of that?" Aaron asked incredulously and worried

"No, I am crying because I love you so much and I am so lucky to have you in my life and I don't know what I will do without you" Emily said pulling him to her and clinging into him like her life depended on it

"I love you too baby more than life it self" Aaron said holding her close and sitting on the bed pulling her into his lap

"Em, are you sure you are alright?" He asked again cupping her face and watching her worried

"Yeah, I am just emotional, and I guess I am just really tired, we have worked too much and I haven't sleep very well. This last case kinda hit me. I just really love you Aaron Hotchner" She said with a sad smile as he wiped her tears

"And I love you Emily Prentiss...and you know what? I know we have work a lot but I promise you we are going to take some time off in a few weeks. Just you and. I. Just go wherever you want..." he said kissing her lips and holding her close

"I will really like that" Emily said smiling softly

"We both need it, we can take Jack with us...maybe to the beach...?"Aaron whispered while she rested on the crook of his neck.

"Mmmm I love the sound of that"

She look up to meet his eyes and their lips met on a kiss, a sweet one at first but then it became passionate.

"Aaron make love to me" She whispered sensually on his ear, desperate to feel him at least for one last time before Piero took her life.

 ** _I never ever take into consideration the consequences of my actions until it's too late. Jo Brand_**


	4. Chapter 4

Broken Pieces

Chapter 4: Running Away

 _ **What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it. - Jiddu Krishnamurti**_

Emily woke up the next morning to an empty bed; she was sort of used to this. Aaron sometimes had to show up earlier to important meetings and other stuff related to the BAU. She got out of bed and headed to the shower…the quicker she got this day over with, the better for her. A little while later, she was dressed for work and drinking a cup of coffee. She went into her closet and keyed in the password for her safe, then she carefully took the yellow envelope and headed to the dining room. Emily opened the envelope revealing her different passports for her aliases while she was working at the CIA, a memory flash drive, and some documents of her assignment as Lauren Reynolds. She carefully looked at the page where her own picture was, everything else had been redacted in the document hiding her identity as Lauren. She then looked at the other documents, which were in the same format, except with different photographs. Those were Clyde's, Tsia's and Sean's, who had also been undercover for the mission that had put Piero Bianchi behind bars. She shook her head trying to vanish the negative thoughts and the shiver that had run through her body.

The last piece of documentation contained one last photograph…Piero Bianchi himself…she stared at the picture for a few minutes. She wondered how it was possible that she almost had fallen in love with him. Of course, Piero wasn't a bad looking man; he was smooth and charming, was very fit, and he was a very attractive man. Emily often joked to herself that he looked like a version of Michael Douglas; he was tall, handsome, and he had the most captivating green eyes. Despite the fact that Piero Bianchi was an international drug dealer and criminal wanted for more than a decade in several countries, Piero wasn't as terrible as Emily had imagined, she actually got to know the real him, a person with real feelings and emotions. He had treated Emily better than any man she had ever been with except for Aaron, but he had been amazing to her. She realized Piero was a good man despite his drug business and the people he had killed. She had been intimately involved with him to the point she almost fell for him. She closed her eyes and sighed; she put all the documents away and then headed back to the safe where she hid the yellow folder again.

On her way to work, Emily stopped at the park where she had agreed to meet Clyde and Tsia. She carefully walked into the park where she spotted her friends on a nearby bench. She stopped in front of the bench and fought the urge to pull Tsia into her arms and hug her, but she knew they were being watched and needed to be as careful as they could be. Although this was a safe place to meet, they still needed to make sure they weren't being followed.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show, darling." Clyde said smoothly, looking at her.

"We need to make this quick, I have to go to work, Aaron is already getting suspicious." Emily answered tensely.

"Right, I forgot you are a posh FBI profiler and your old Interpol friends aren't as important." Clyde teased and Tsia just rolled her eyes at him.

"Cut the shit, Clyde, what is being done to locate Piero?" Emily said snappily.

"Relax, Em, I have every agency on the northern Hemisphere looking for him."

"Maybe you should focus on looking here only." Emily said, glaring at Clyde.

"Has he contacted you?" Tsia asked, knowing Emily's expressions.

"He called me last night; I think it's safe to assume he is coming here." Emily responded.

"What does he want?" Tsia asked, in a broken voice.

"What do you think, Tsia? We put him behind bars, so do you think he wants to have a party with us?" Clyde responded, almost rudely.

"Listen, Clyde, I don't have time for your shit." Tsia snapped, with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, stop, okay? Both of you…" Emily interrupted, reaching for Tsia's arm.

"We've got to do this together." Emily repeated.

"Are you sure it's not safe to tell your team? They can help." Tsia urged. Emily felt bad for her after losing Jeremy, she knew her friend was desperate.

"Absolutely not! They cannot be involved in this!" Emily said firmly.

"Tsia, she's right, they don't have clearance." Clyde ordered firmly.

"Then, what do we do, just sit here and wait for him to come get us?" Tsia snapped at Clyde.

Emily's cellphone beeped with a text from Garcia telling her they had a local case and her presence was needed a.s.a.p. at the BAU.

"I have to go." She said, walking away from them.

"We WILL find him." Clyde swore, but Emily wasn't sure that was a truth anymore.

When she arrived at the BAU, the team was already in the conference room briefing the case. She walked in quickly as Aaron gave her a stern look for being late.

"I'm so sorry, there was a lot of traffic." She said, taking a seat.

"Are you okay?" Aaron asked, looking at her already knowing she was going to say she was fine and was lying.

"I'm fine." She said, without looking at him and taking the case file in front of her spot on the table. "What's going on?" She asked Morgan, who was sitting next to her.

"Two different families were murdered last night in their residences, then the houses were set on fire with the families inside." Morgan responded as Garcia went back to the pictures on the screen.

"So it's an arsonist?" Emily asked.

"Not necessarily; one appears to be murder-suicide, the other a freak accident." Hotch explained, as more pictures appeared on the screen.

"Is there a connection between these families?" Emily's eyes narrowed at the screen in front of her.

"Only a continent…" Garcia said. "The Morretti's were from Italy, and the Krauser's were from Germany." She finished, looking at Emily directly.

"So the families are from Europe…what does that have to do with anything?" Reid queried seriously, but Emily just felt the insides of her stomach turn…she had a suspicion Piero had something to do with this.

"So this unsub is highly-motivated and organized?" Sieber added, looking at them.

"Yes, which means if he is going to strike again, we have less than 72 hours before he does it again." Hotch said, standing up from the table.

By noon that day, they had not find one clue that pointed them in the direction of the unsub; Emily was becoming very anxious and desperate, a fact not lost on Hotch. He tried to approach her again asking if everything was okay, but she simply dismissed him the way she had for the past few weeks.

Garcia had found another connection between the families; they both had called the same number in the past few weeks which led them to a person name Caldwell Hussain, a British man. Hotch sent Emily and Morgan to check the residence of the person. Unfortunately, they were late when they arrived, and Hussain was already dead. Only this time, their unsub had left a clue. The unsub had carved a symbol on Hussain's chest with a knife. It was a star that had a cross in the middle also known as a _jomagu_ , a symbol used to identify the Sicilian mafia. Emily felt her chest tighten, and she could hardly breathe.

"What does that mean?" Morgan asked.

"I have no idea." Emily lied, keeping her tears at bay. She knew for sure now that Piero was behind this. The symbol jomagu was strictly a code or a mark the Sicilian mafia used to represent themselves. Emily had seen that symbol several times while she was with Piero. More specifically, Piero liked to carve the symbol on their victims, or someone who had betrayed his trust.

Back in the bullpen, the team was sitting around the conference room table discussing the details they had found that day, especially the picture of Hussain's with the mark carved on his chest.

"The Sicilian JOMAGU Symbol was designed and proposed by the Dei Mafia of JOMAGU as a symbol of the Sicilian Government Mafia that represents as the Government of Mafia or Government Mafia of Sicilian and Sicily. The Sicilian JOMAGU Symbol was originally from the symbol of trinacria and connected to the Sicilian Mafia." Reid stated as he looked at the pictures on the screen.

"So, we are dealing with the Italian Mafia?" Aaron asked, concern showing across his face? Emily's heart started racing…the closer the team got to connecting the pieces, the more nervous she got.

Aaron managed to arrange a meeting with the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility of the State Department. He decided it was their best shot at getting the exact information on who they were after, since the Italian Mafia was a big group to chase.

"Why is the BAU interested in this case, and more importantly, on getting inside the Italian Mafia?" John Asher, the head of the organization, asked.

"We now have four families murdered, two of which have been marked with this symbol." Hotch replied sternly. "This is now a BAU case; the Italian Mafia is infiltrating on American ground."

"Agent Hotchner, if you are looking for answers, I'm afraid you might not get them; there are thousands of members that belong to the Italian Mafia." Asher replied, leaning back against his seat. "You might never get your unsub."

"But, you also know who had a specific motive to kill these families, don't you?" Hotch replied, glaring at him. "Mr. Asher, holding information that can be relevant to this case can be considered as obstruction of justice," he added in a firm tone that usually intimidated all his unsubs. Asher seemed to consider that and leaned back into his seat looking at Hotch with a defiant look. Emily was trying to maintain calm, but her heart was racing a hundred miles per hour.

"Okay, what do you need?" Asher asked hesitantly.

"I'm looking for someone inside the Italian Mafia with considerable training. Someone who has a personal motive, so much so that he is carving the symbol on their victims' chests." Hotch said seriously. "This type of behavior is specific, this is vengeance."

"The only name I have won't help you," Asher said, "he is in jail now."

"What's his name?" Hotch asked harshly.

"Piero Bianchi." Asher said, and Emily felt her breath caught in her throat; she blinked a couple of times and tried to relax.

Back at the BAU, Garcia managed to find out that Piero had escaped prison a few weeks ago, and that he was now on the run, which led the team to believe he was their unsub…now their job was to profile him so they could get him.

"So, Piero was locked away in China?" Dave asked, as the team gathered back in the conference room.

"I'm not sure about that, I can't find any extradition papers on him." Garcia said, while typing on her computer as fast as she could. That caught Emily by surprise, and she stared at Garcia in shock.

"I just found a lead that said Piero was locked up in Qwan-Li-So." Garcia said. "A North Korean camp that is sort of like a prison."

Emily's eyes widened…she had no idea about any of this; in fact, to her knowledge, Piero had been in a prison in France. Carefully and without calling anyone's attention, she excused herself to go to the bathroom and dialed Clyde.

"Hello, darling." He greeted, in his usual chipper tone.

"Piero was in Qwan Li-So? Emily asked sternly. "I thought he was in La Sante."

"Ah yeah, I just didn't think you needed to know that." Clyde responded, trying to sound calm.

"Are you fucking serious, Clyde? You didn't think I needed to know that?" Emily snapped angrily.

"Emily, calm down." 

"What else are you hiding, Clyde? Are you working for Piero?" She asked furiously.

"Sure, Emily, I'm a fucking drug dealer." Clyde replied, upset.

"Tsia, take me off speaker." Emily ordered.

"What the fuck are you going to do, Emily, get him on your own?" Clyde snapped.

"Tsia, get him off the phone, or I'm hanging up!" Emily said, more firmly.

"Okay, what's up?" Tsia said, taking the phone with her.

"Tsia, get out of there, you cannot trust him, or anyone." Emily ordered.

"Okay, Em." Tsia said, getting serious and eying Clyde suspiciously.

"Go to a safe place and call me when you are alone." Emily said.

"Got it."

"Please be careful." Emily said, scared.

They hung up the phone, and Emily headed back to the conference room to gather more information about the case. Emily kept acting weird, and Hotch was aware of that, so the first minute they had to be alone, he approached her in his office.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking her directly in the eyes.

"Nothing, please stop asking me that!" She answered a little more brusquely than she intended.

"So, you are just going to continue lying to me?" Aaron said harshly; he couldn't stop himself; he was hurt and upset about her behavior.

"Aaron, please." Emily said, raising her palm to stop him.

"Why are you even engaged to me if you don't even trust me?" He blurted out angrily. That hurt Emily more than anything, but before she could answer, Dave interrupted.

"There's been another murder, female, 30 years old, she was marked with the symbol as well."

"Prentiss, go with him." Aaron ordered sternly, and walked away from her.

Emily's heart broke when they arrived to the crime scene, and she realized the victim was Tsia herself; she fought the urge to run and pull Tsia into her arms. This was all her fault. She had told Tsia to leave Clyde, and she had been targeted alone, she had basically killed Tsia herself. Unable to stop herself, she left the crime scene walking away from the building and heading into a corner, she started throwing up as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Dave approached her gently.

"I'm fine, just feeling queasy all day." She responded, wiping her face.

"You look very tired, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, we should head back to the BAU." Emily said, trying to gain some strength.

Dave nodded, and they headed back to the BAU; by the time they arrived, Hotch was already delivering the profile. She stood there in silence watching the man she loved talk about their unsub and the tactics to get him. She couldn't get him more involved in this. If Piero got anywhere near him, she was sure Piero would kill Aaron and the entire team. Her eyes darted around the BAU as she watched every one of her friends and the people she had called family for the past few years. Emily knew she would never forgive herself if anything happened to them. This was her fight not theirs; after all, Piero wanted her, not them. Very carefully, without being noticed, she walked out of the BAU and headed to her car. This was her fight…she was going to go after Piero alone and get him before he could hurt her friends and the love of her life, even if it cost her own life.

 _ **I didn't feel that running away would change anything but when the roof of the garage started coming off I thought it was time to go. -John Harrison**_


End file.
